Three former African Presidents added to DRC peace facilitators’ panel

Three former African presidents—Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa, Catherine Samba-Panza of the Central African Republic, and Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia—have been added to the Panel of Facilitators tasked with addressing the ongoing security crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). They were appointed by a joint summit of heads of state from the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), held virtually on Monday, March 24, 2025. The summit was attended by leaders from 14 EAC and SADC member countries. The meeting was co-chaired by

Three former African presidents—Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa, Catherine Samba-Panza of the Central African Republic, and Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia—have been added to the Panel of Facilitators tasked with addressing the ongoing security crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). They were appointed by a joint summit of heads of state from the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), held virtually on Monday, March 24, 2025. The summit was attended by leaders from 14 EAC and SADC member countries. The meeting was co-chaired by President William Ruto of Kenya and President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe, in their capacities as Chairpersons of EAC and SADC, respectively. The summit emphasized the importance of gender balance, regional representation, and linguistic inclusivity in the panel, leading to the appointment of the three additional former presidents. The new facilitators—Motlanthe, Samba-Panza, and Zewde—will join Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, who were previously appointed as facilitators. Former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who was part of the initial team, has been dropped. The summit also adopted a comprehensive report from the Joint EAC-SADC Meeting of Ministers, outlining immediate, medium-, and long-term measures to achieve lasting peace and security in the region. The Heads of State stressed the urgent need to implement these measures to address the ongoing conflict.